Disclaimer: None of this is my own.
Ok, in our last journey into this psychological whirlpool Yami and Kikyo shared their first kiss in over 5000 years, only to have Kagome discover the link. To make matters worse, Kachikachi confronted the Pharaoh with a dangerous Shadow Game. At the same time, Inuyasha has been betrayed by Yoko and has an opportunity to reflect on Kagome and her feelings, while Kaiba and Sango begin their duel, as Yusuke ends his own.
Chapter 30 begins the first major conflict between Yami and Kagome as he attempts to clear up what happened, while Kaiba's duel takes a turn for the worse. At the same time, Roger is about to end his battle, while Joey is at long last slated to begin his own. Through all of this Inuyasha makes a new "ally", and Dartz begins his attack on Yami and Hiei.
Chapter 29: Curse of Orichalcos
Hallway outside of the sick ward
"Kagome..."
In one devastating moment, all that the Pharaoh Atem had accomplished over the years, every victory, every demonic soul banished into oblivion, and even the rather important fact that one of his greatest enemies was standing right behind him, was all lost on his mind. All of reality seemed to dissipate and ebb away into the near infinite abyss, and soon all he could see was Kagome, her once vivacious eyes now brimming with tears. But what continued to reverberate in his mind was that he might have created an irreparable schism, and as this possibility grew exponentially greater with every passing second, his heart began to ache in a way he had never felt before.
Yet there was one thing the Pharaoh was dreading, and that was her reaction. This single event, however, was slow in coming, as it was obviously taking the incarnation a few seconds to fully absorb what had been laid before her.
"I don't know what came over me, Kagome. It was almost like the priestess was trying to draw me into some kind of enchantment that I could not for the life of me escape. If it's any consolation, I did try to resist her, but..."
"SHUT UP!!!"
Kachikachi, standing on the backstage of the spectacle, indulged in a cruel snicker beneath his breath, as Kagome suddenly lashed out at his long time nemesis with her surprisingly barbed temper. It was almost too good to be true; the two would soon be finished, and Sesshomaru would just as quickly taste the full power of his Orichalcos seal, the ancient Greek magic that also empowered the beings of Atlantis. It was all falling perfectly into place.
"Yami, when I first heard about you and your dueling championships when I was still in Tokyo, I thought you were nothing more than a pompous bag of wind who had gotten so bloated on his own ego that he almost considered himself unbeatable. Nobody really knew you or Yugi too well; you were just some random kid from Domino. But your match with Yami no Bakura had begun to prove me wrong, and I was beginning to realize that you were twice as sincere a man as anyone I had ever met. The duel with Kagura only confirmed this fact, and even before that I had already started to fall in love with you."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that as I got to know you better, I started to think as well that you were different, that you seriously cared about me more than anybody else. At the same time, I thought you were above the level to which Inuyasha had sunk, that you'd stay with me until the bitter end, and even then you would never leave. I thought that if Kikyo ever returned to you, the most that would happen is that you'd befriend her, and not abandon me for her. I assumed all of these things were true, but I guess I was wrong about that!!!"
"What?! Kagome, that's not true at all! I do love you, I'd give anything to be with you for all of eternity! It was a single kiss, that's all, and even now I'm regretting it, if it means you'll walk out of my life! It meant absolutely nothing to me!" Even now, the once proud Pharaoh had collapsed onto the cold marble, his hands clenched so tight that they drew blood. "For you, I'd give up everything, the Sennen Items, my deck, the very heart that keeps me alive. If you were cut down I'd trade my own soul to the devil so that you could live again..."
Yami's eyes moved up, staring into Kagome's, praying, waiting. But her eyes narrowed in utmost loathing, but it was also an expression of sadness, as more tears welled up behind them, and more had begun to stream down her once sweet face.
"You simply don't get it, do you, Yami? I offered you my heart, opened myself up to you, and this is how you repay me, by kissing that slut. To make matters worse, you don't even want to admit you did it of your own free will, you just try to cover it up with excuses and poetic crap. Well, I went down that road before, and I will never do that again." So saying, she turned around and began to walk towards the exit, not even bothering to look back, not letting on that she was torn apart from the inside out, her heart completely shattered. It was crying to her, and deep down she knew she had made a huge mistake. I want to believe Yami, I really do, and in the deepest parts of my soul I still believe him, and even deeper down I know he's telling the truth. But how can I trust him? How do I know that he isn't just acting like Inuyasha and going from me to Kikyo? I'd do the same things for him that he said he would for me, and so much more, but I don't want to get hurt a second time. And so she walked away, as her heart was breaking without any way to console it.
As for Yami, he was perfectly inconsolable, and the only thing that kept him from hanging himself by his own chain was an ever-increasing mantra, a demand of himself that grew slightly louder with every breath. He now knew what had to be done, before he could go back to Kagome, before he dealt with Hiei and Naraku. It was now time to do something that he should have done centuries ago.I have no other choice. I must murder Kachikachi, and banish him from this world once and for all.
He had endured enough from the samurai already, this monster that had brutally slain so many of Atem's people in the name of his deluded quest for power, that had brought forth the strength of Orichalcos, and that single-handedly estrangedthe only woman he had loved with all his heart from him. Yami had taken enough torment from him, and now he would not rest until his hands were drenched in Kachikachi's blood.
But unknown to the Pharaoh, Kachikachi was fingering the ancient Mugen-Dai that had been crafted using the power of Atlantis, full ready to draw it out if need be. There were very few that even knew that this legendary katana drew it's strength from the Dark Seal, and it was he alone that knew of it's capabilities when in the direct presence of Orichalcos.
So now it was time to begin the duel, the last combat between the two rivals, and before the day was done the true wielder of the Sennen Puzzle would be revealed.
"Well, Atem, it has been a long way in coming, but the time has at long last arrived, the day when I can finally claim the ancient strength of Egypt for my master and hurl you into the darkness forever. You may have been able to defeat the DOOM soldiers, but I am in a class of my own when it comes to the Orichalcos deck, and using the antediluvian might of the seal I will finally end this conflict between us and move on to my greatest accomplishments. Soon my powers will be strong enough to throw down my suzerain and his deranged king, and the entire world will kneel before the Mugen-Dai! Oh, but wait, it won't matter if you win or lose this duel, for I have already taken away the one thing that means the most to you. In one swoop I have turned Kagome against you, and by the time she realized what really happened you shall have been consumed by the shade, and I will draw and quarter your hikari Yugi when you have left the picture."
But as he spoke, Kachikachi began to notice that his archrival was beginning to quiver, not in fear as he had hoped, but in outright rage. And it occurred to him that he had made an enormous miscalculation.
"Very well, Kachikachi. If it is fated that I will lose this duel, then so be it, but if that is not the case then you have doomed yourself in a way you could not begin to imagine, and the horrors of the Shadow Realm shall be the least of your worries. I will see to it that every nightmare you ever had, every loss you have ever experienced, and every scar that has come unto you will be relived a thousand times over. When you lose to me, swordsman, I shall place you into a Punishment Game that exceeds all that you have endured before, and all of those that you have harmed over the years will be avenged."
"What, are you still upset over the fact that it was by my work that Kagome abandoned you? Do not even attempt to pin this on me. Certainly I arranged the event and calculated every last variable, but regardless of that you still kissed the High Priestess, and you have paid for it. But this time there is nothing that can be done, for the more modern version has experienced heartbreak on Kikyo's actions many a time before, and her heart has grown callous and unforgiving to your kind of circumstances."
"I know that, and as much as I hate to admit it I may never see Kagome again. It is true that it was my responsibility and I am paying for it. But that still does not justify what you did, and before this duel is over you shall die."
"We will see if you can back up your pathetic threat in our duel, Pharaoh. But while you figure that out I shall await your presence in the ballroom a few floors below us. So go ahead and collect your thoughts while I prepare to shatter you from this plane forever."
And in this mood the dark swordsman walked out of the ward.
Let me assure you, Kachikachi, my threats have never gone unfulfilled, and before all is said and done I shall finally rid the earth of your plague, your soul scattered throughout the void. And, if destiny wills it, I shall get Kagome back. But in this case, it might not occur that way. I want her back more than any vengeance or victory, and losing her will be like losing my soul, but will she take me back?
Unwittingly, Yami had begun to think through his words, and spoke them aloud."Oh God, do not let me lose this woman, for compared to her, everything else I have done seems almost meaningless..."
Roger vs. R.D.
"I must say, I am impressed, negotiator. Out of all the duelists I have faced in this tournament you have proven to be the most difficult to vanquish. However, let me assure you of one thing: I have not yet begun to fight! It's my move, and I'll start by placing one monster in face down defense mode, as well as two cards face down. Your move."
"Very well." These sociopath dueling strategies are rather bizarre. I already have one immensely powerful monster face up on the field, but judging from that look on her face she's got a few tricks set up for me, perhaps in an attempt to weaken my Perfect Machine King enough for her to attack it. But luckily for me, I have the only monster capable of shutting down her plan immediately on hand. So now it was time to use it.
"I hope you weren't intent on using those face down cards to save your hide, for now I shall sacrifice my Roboyarou to summon a favorite monster of mine, the dreaded Jinzo!" Roboyarou, instead of being disassembled like his counterpart, was instead completely overhauled, and as if by a mystic force his armor was chemically altered, the humanoid part of him dismantled and replace with cybernetic components and a computer hard drive, and the general height of the creature was grossly enhanced, until a new, much more sinister automaton was left. The cyborg warrior now stood about eight feet tall, with a fabric metal green robe, iron shoulder guards, and a wraparound silicon face mask that surrounded the now shriveled human head sitting atop the monster's elongated neck. (2400/1500) "And although I am sure you know this much already, I may as well tell you that my android psycho shocker negates every trap on the field, including those face down, making the face down cards you just played worthless." Responding to it's initial programming as a trap remover, the ominous mechanical soldier sent a beam of super-thin light that scorched away one of the face down cards. "Now, Jinzo, destroy that face down monster with Telekinetic Pulse Cannon!" As the second component of programming as the perfect war machine activated, the two hands of Jinzo generated a very unstable orb of psychokinetic plasma, and sent it hurtling towards the defense monster. However, as the face down monster was revealed it became clear that in the shadows there were two defense monsters, in this case, a pair of fair-haired Romans that were clothed in simplistic brown robes not dissimilar to the earliest Italian garb. (1200/1500) Soon, however, the more cunning of the two shoved his brother into the path of the blast, and he was soon incinerated."The monster that you just attacked is a rather powerful magician known as Gemini, and by attacking it you failed to notice it's special ability, which allows it to count as two separate monsters when on the field, but it forces me to take 700 points of direct damage if you are involved in it's destruction. But I would like you to recall my face down card known as Offerings to the Doomed, which let's me decimate one monster on your side of the field, but stops my next draw phase. So say goodbye to that eyesore of a Gundam, as I destroy Perfect Machine King!" As the Offerings card triggered, the most powerful monster that Roger had managed to summon was absorbed in the seven sacrificial jars, leaving behind only a few scant remnants of gears and missile launchers.
"Ok, I'll end my turn there."
"Right, so now it's my move." With the exception of not being able to draw that turn, Red Destiny's plan was going off perfectly. "I'll start this turn by sacrificing my remaining twin to summon a monster known as Taurus in attack mode!" Now full realizing what his fate was, the traitorous brother kneeled in prayer to the gods as his soul became forfeit, and in it's place was a massive bull, likely the breed used as tribute in Roman mythology. The tips of the beast's horns were gold-cast, while he hooves of the sable giant were silver. (2500/1000) "And I'll continue my attack by equipping it with the Horn of the Unicorn you sent to the graveyard earlier!" Between the curved horns of the creature emerged the long, electrical Horn of the Unicorn. (3100/1700) "Now, Taurus, destroy his Jinzo and bring me ever closer to victory!" The ultimate combat drone stood on position, ready to cut down the charging ox, but he had little to no experience in the combat of mystically empowered creatures, and soon he had been gored by all three of the monster's horns, the center of which sent an electrical shock into the core of it's programming, the end result being a complete meltdown that detonated the Jinzo. (600/1900) "And since your pathetic little machine is no longer on the field, I can activate all Trap cards, and the one I had in mind was this face down Jar of Greed, and that just about balances the Offerings to the Doomed I just played now. And now that my Battle Phase is just about done, I think I will activate this Field Magic card, known as Reflecting Pool of Stars!" Red Destiny's next card was indeed a bizarre magic, for in the center of the grim room of nightmares appeared a lake of jet black water, in which was reflected twelve groupings of stars.
These groupings were the constellations of the Zodiac.
"You've finally made the connection, Smith. As long as my pool of stars remains on the field, all Zodiac monsters, like my Taurus, will gain an extra 300 attack points, and both players on the field will gain 200 life points every turn. But there is a downside to the effect, for you at least: every time a Zodiac monster is destroyed, the opponent of the controller will lose one quarter of that monster's attack strength. So even if you can get rid of my Taurus, you will still lose this duel. So go ahead and draw your next card; it will take nothing short of a miracle to save you now."
"Very well." Another card draw, but perhaps this was the break he needed. And in accordance with the rules of the field, his life points increased slightly. (800/2100) "I'll place one card face down, and summon Black Hole Shield Armor in attack mode!" One of the weakest machines that Roger had to play was soon summoned; it was a fairly large mechanical left arm that appeared to be part of a larger combination. (0/0) "That will end my turn."
R.D. looked upon his latest creature for a second or so, until she burst out laughing.
"Please, negotiator, do you honestly expect so pathetic a creature as that to be able to defeat my Taurus, or any other creature I happen to possess? Well, if you want to believe that, far be it for me to stop you. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a duel to win." (1000/2300) I'll start by activating the Magic card, Pot of Greed, to draw two new cards, followed by the activation of this Magic card, Card Destruction, so that we can discard my current hand and redraw the same amount. Now for the grand finale; watch as I activate Monster Reborn and Premature Burial to resurrect two of the monsters I had sent to the graveyard, Leo and Scorpio!" The next two Zodiac creatures were indeed rather powerful creatures; one of them was a gargantuan scorpion with a sting and pincers alight with flames, and the other was a lion with fur of the purest black and eyes that shone like hunter's moons. (2300/500) (2700/2000) "Next, I shall summon the most powerful 4-starred Zodiac, the great Aires!" This new monster, although in fact powerful, seemed puny in comparison to the other great behemoths that stood next to it. Aires was in fact a ram which was about the size of a standard sport utility vehicle, with golden fleece that hung down to it's legs. (1900/1600) "And remember, all four of these monsters gain the power of the Pool of Reflecting Stars, boosting their attack strength to indomitable heights!" (2600/800) (3000/2300) (2200/1800) (3400/2000) "Now my monsters, attack Roger's life points and his pathetic monster to end this duel!" But as the three Zodiac beasts converged on the Paradigm investigator, the automaton appendage latched onto Roger's arm, and converted itself into a center of gravity that was so horrifically dense that not even the minimal light of the room could escape it.
The attacks of all three monsters were absorbed by the black hole.
"WHAT?!"
"You obviously forgot that my Black Hole Shield has an effect that allows me to negate all damage done to me this turn, meaning that you have no way of defeating me until the next turn you take."
"Very well, I shall end my turn. But I want you to know something before I end your life; there is no monster that you possess that could defeat my warring soldiers of the Zodiac, and even if you did have any hope of winning a battle with these beasts, the effect of my Pool of Reflecting Stars will cause you to lose a massive amount of life points in the process. So go ahead and take your last turn, if you wish; it will take nothing short of an act of God to save you now." (1200/2500)
"Alright, Red Destiny, if you really want me to end this duel, then so be it. I'll start by using the card I just drew, Mystical Space Typhoon, to wipe out your Field Magic." Upon activation, a swirling torrent of wind and lightning dragged away the pool of stars, leaving the Zodiac monsters without any source of power. (2300/500) (3100/1700) (2700/2000) (1900/1600) "Next, I will activate my face down card, Mechanical Magic Mirror, which will allow me to activate one Magic card from your graveyard as though it were my own, and the Magic I've picked is your Pot of Greed!" As Roger was about to draw his two final cards, however, he closed his eyes, and muttered a silent prayer.
And as he looked at the two cards before him, he realized his prayer had been answered.
"Now I shall place 1 monster in defense mode, and then I will activate the card that will seal your demise, Book of Taiyou! It shall flip up one face down monster on the field, which is my monster, Cyber Jar!" From the ancient Egyptian tome was sent a ray of light that shone onto the deadly cyborg bomb, resulting in it's immediate detonation, and within seconds all four Zodiac beasts were smeared away. "I believe you know what happens next. Now we draw five cards and summon any level 4 or lower monsters to the field." R.D. managed to summon 5 monsters in attack mode, leaving no room for the Star Token that Taurus had produced: Sagittarius, a lean Nubian archer that sat atop a well-built horse (1600/1900); a massive, golden armored crab with brilliant white claws, Cancer (1100/2200); Pisces, which was a enormous red marlin whose eyes were pitch black (1400/1800); Libra, a fair-haired seraph in pearly robes that carried a set of platinum scales (900/2100); and finally Aquarius, which was a crooked old man dressed only in an outfit similar to Aborigine garb, but had a brilliant glass jar filled to the brim with the purest water. (400/600) But these results were nowhere near as pathetic as Roger's monsters, since he had ended up with four of the weakest machines in his deck; a long, cylindrical barrel that, unlike most firearm barrels, was completely smooth, a small cube-shaped computer that had three laser pointers jutting out of it, what could only be a giant glass sphere solidified by a steel frame and glowing with unstable neutron energy, and finally the largest component of all, a grossly oversized rectangular mechanism that hummed as it began to charge, as well as began to scan for other similar components while ten long, suction-tipped legs clamped into the dirt.
All of these monsters had absolutely no attack or defense strength.
"HA! Do you honestly expect monsters that are as pathetic as that to stop my onslaught of mystical beasts?"
"Actually I do. You see, these otherwise useless machines are in fact the stabilizer, the barrel, the targeting system, and the energy supply of a super powerful government weapon that launches billions of subatomic particles at opposing forces to destroy them from the inside out. But in order for the Power Core, Particle Chamber, Stabilizer, and Control Mechanism to be used effectively I need to combine them, and I can do that using the last Magic card Cyber Jar gave me, the Particle-Accelerator Cannon!"
Within seconds, the energy chamber connected itself into the main stabilizer console, and using it's circuits triggered magnetic beams that latched onto the barrel and dragged it onto the power core, upon which the barrel began to charge up with barely controlled energy. But the process was not finished, for the targeting computer hooked onto the bottom of the stabilizer, and sent out six beams of light to map out a target.
All six of them were pointing at Red Destiny.
"NO!!!"
"Alright, it's time we settle this grudge once and for all! And this time, don't come back! PARTICLE-ACCELERATOR CANNON, DESTROY EVERY MONSTER ON THE FIELD, AND HIT R.D. WITH 4000 LIFE POINTS DIRECT DAMAGE!"
Upon command, the heavy duty cannon charged up mass multitudes of negative energy uranium ions, and the targeting computer laid out each individual path, until all was let loose in a hellish blaze of fiery blue power that disintegrated every monster that did not stand aside, and before long the cannon itself collapsed. But the full fury of the blast kept on going, until it slammed into the psychotic drone's chest, knocking away the unusually disturbing red cloak and hurling her into the next wall.
"DAMN YOU, ROGER SMITH!!!" (1200/0)
Hidden Cathedral, Center of New Paradigm
"There is nothing but thee, O Dark God of Atlantis, ruler of my people. Thine will is law and we are but chattels bound to it. The ancient designs of the Olympians is not for us lowly mortals to tamper with, but I offer up this prayer to thee, Serpent God. Bring me victory in this, my most twilight of hours. And once ye designs have come to pass in full, I shall offer up the finest bullock in tribute to thou who guides the hands of fate."
Deep within the massive compound where DOOM Organization held base, there was located a small yet ornate cathedral, where constantly on hand stood the Messengers of Delphi. These highly trained spell-casters and seers were supposedly direct descendants of the legendary Oracle of Delphi, and had been targeted by the High Monarch of the Sea Kingdom many years before. Apart from the priesthood, the entire temple was basically a combination of Gothic and Pantheon structures that blended together to form one flawless architecture. The lights, ancient Roman oil lamps, were constantly kept alight by the attendants of the King Dartz, and the blue light of the lamps gave the place a rather eerie aura. The altar was carven from the bedrock upon which Atlantis once stood, and stood watch over the tombs of those rulers whom had passed before him.And on every wall, in every alcove, and even on the floor of the place, was that same seal, the Mark of Atlantis.
"And now, in honor of the might of Orichalcos, I offer up these impure souls so that you may feed from them. Grow strong, God of Atlantis, and prove that you are just and noble as once was thought. Let all of those infidels that surround us be finally be placed in their graves prematurely, and the nameless Pharaoh, the murdering Spirit King, and the malevolent Fused Demon, may all three be cast from this place, and may the near infinite power they possess be used to resurrect you in full. IN THE NAME OF ORICHALCOS, I SWEAR TO FULFILL THIS OATH AND DEFEAT MY ENEMIES! MAY ATLANTIS PROSPER FOR TEN THOUSAND YEARS TO COME!"
Upon this oath being fully uttered, ten of the Messengers of Delphi kneeled onto the ground and began chanting in an archaic form of Greek, every so often tossing up heated incense into the rafters so that it fell onto their heads. From behind the other pillars emerged many other priests, each holding an obsidian tablet, in which was held an elaborate emerald seal, which looked exactly like that found on the floor of the place and the walls.
"And now, Seal of Orichalcos, release your prisoners into the gaping maws of the Serpent God!" Upon saying this, all of the emblems in the place lit up with an iridescent green hue, and sent these unorthodox rays of light straight into the altar, from whence emerged a gruesome looking idol. It was about the size of a toddler, but depicted a mammoth black snake whose eyes were of a dark burgundy hue, but were absolutely soulless. And now the jaws opened by some unseen force...and drew into them the light of Orichalcos.
With a speed unmatched by any mortal creature, an army of souls shrieked forth from the seal, some resigned to what fate had handed them, others losing all dignity in one swoop by bawling like a baby, screaming for mercy as they were consumed by the dark snake. Some of the less experienced began to fear for themselves, none too sure if the god would not turn on them next, and even the seasoned priests grew pale with horror of what was happening.
Only one of them, the man whom had orchestrated the sacrifice, had remained perfectly calm throughout the entire proceedings. And it was he that now stood, dangerously close to the stream of the damned that flowed just over his head.
He waited for a minute or so, and walked towards the back of the cathedral, the card in his left pocket suddenly warm.
These offerings were good, but they were not enough to appease him. I need the spirits of stronger warriors, warriors like Yami and Hiei.
Dartz had spent many years and large amounts of money constructing various complexes throughout the world capable of his rather extravagant tastes, and it was this base in particular that he had spent most of that money on. The miscellaneous rooms, tunnels, and storage facilities ran on for miles on end to the outskirts of the eyesore city, and some of his outposts for this base even came close to the blockade around the levitating metropolis. But with this specific base, he had designed it so that Hiei's Sennen Eye could not track it down, and the fortress itself could not be penetrated by sheer brute strength; the Orichalcos Steel made sure of that. But there was still something missing here, some final piece of the puzzle he needed to overthrow his enemies, new and old. Perhaps the DOOM Soldiers could help him find that out, but for the most part he knew what he needed.But the Atlantian King, having focused so acutely on his latest attack plan and still disappointed by the results of the sacrifice, had unwittingly brought himself to the oaken doors of his personal boardroom. This was not unfortunate, but there was something strange here, something slightly out of place. For a few seconds he even had a slight sinking feeling in his stomach, but that was likely due to the premonition at hand.
Dartz, however, had never been one to run away from difficulties merely because his gut told him otherwise, yet it seemed prudent to keep his old Macedonian dagger on hand. And so armed he pushed open the double doors, and came onto a somewhat unsettling scene.
The entire black-paneled meeting room was in shambles. Chairs were tossed about the place, several of the closed-circuit monitors were smashed open, and at least five of the guards now lay dead with barbed skewers sticking out of their eyes. Hanging out of the walls were the hidden cameras that probably recorded the thief and his actions before he put two and two together and tore them out. And everywhere there was the thick odor of human blood. But what was strange was the fact that there was only one way out of this place, and the crime itself looked like it had been done soon after he had arrived. So someone else must have caught the burglar and dealt with him promptly.
The snapping of vertebrae only confirmed his suspicions.
"That is quite enough, Raphael. I am almost sure that the man is dead."
From the shadows of one corner of the room emerged a giant of a man, a powerful looking Caucasian with a closely cropped head of golden hair. His face looked well-cut and refined, and it was immediately obvious that he had spent some of his life in opulence, but at the same time it appeared worn, as though he had undergone a great loss throughout his life. He wore a black leather trench coat and what could only be body armor beneath it.
In his hands was a human dressed all in gray, scrawny in comparison, with his head twisted at an odd angle.
Upon seeing his master and ally, the one called Raphael kneeled before him, placing his hand upon his chest in sign of servitude, at the same time offering a prayer for his victim.
"Rise, my servant. I am assuming that the thief did not find anything of significance?"
"None that I could find on his person, milord. I have reason to believe, however, that he had some bearing of what was going on in this place. My guess is that he was not some thug that found his way here by sheer dumb luck."
"That is obvious, Raphael, but we have much more important matters to deal with, and although this brigand may be on the payroll of the demon Hiei, it would not be wise to focus solely on him."
As the two set up the tossed about chairs and put everything back into working order, the oaken doors opened again, to reveal a short youth with wild brown hair, hardly older than sixteen. He was clad in brown and crimson military issue, but the difference was that it was plated in varying types of futuristic armor. Upon his head was a pair of thick welder's goggles, and his left pocket played host to an advanced personal organizer.
"Varon, please do not stand in the doorway like some buffoon. Enter, and sit down, for we have several topics that the entirety of the DOOM Soldiers should be involved in."
The armored teen decided to comply with this, and from the refrigerator extracted a glass of mineral water. Raphael removed his favorite bourbon, and Dartz settled on a glass of white Tuscan wine.
"Now, our prisoner was released, as per my orders?"
Varon, who had not been clued into this part of the mission, was a little perturbed, but Raphael nodded in compliance. "As you said, he was allowed freedom, but I do not understand why that would help our ventures here. If by some twist of luck he is able to locate Kagome..."
"Then he shall lead us right to her, and the Pharaoh as well. Naraku I am not too worried about as of yet, since his main battle is with Hiei for that damnable jewel, and Inuyasha I am certain we can remove from this tournament with no problems at all. It is that Spirit Detective, as well as Kaiba and Yami, that gives me the largest of my problems. If we can remove these three from the picture, then Hiei and Naraku will be easy pickings. However, even that does not end my list of concerns, for we still have the problems with Kachikachi to contend with."
"That is being handled as we speak, Lord Dartz, for he has taken it upon himself to challenge the Nameless Pharaoh in a Shadow Game. But what I do not understand is why you need Yami's prostitute alive to find Hiei."
"You don't understand every aspect of the situation, Raphael. This woman can supposedly track down jewel shards, and if this is true we shall be able to find Hiei easily, presuming she complies with our demands. The Pharaoh I will deal with myself, and Naraku if the need arises, but until then we shall simply weaken the fools until the time to strike is ready. Now in the meantime, I need you two to locate our enemies and defeat them, no matter what it takes. I myself will continue the research into this new threat."
And with that, the two DOOM Soldiers walked away towards the exit, as Dartz had time to contemplate this new battlefield.
What are you trying to hide from us, Hiei Jagenshi? What makes you think that you have a chance at defeating Atem in his own game? If I need to, I will prove to you myself who the real mastermind is...
Kaiba vs. SangoNo, it can't be true. I will not accept it, not now, or ever. She can't be dead; maybe she blacked out and that's what is causing this lack of heart. If Hiei killed her, who knows what will happen on his own playing field...
From the sidelines, the old woman that had devised this entire duel was getting aggravated. The match had been annoyingly one-sided from the beginning, and the fact that Kaiba was now collapsed onto the ground only irked her more. Of course, she had a vague idea of what the problem was, but even that was not enough to put the duel on hold."KAIBA!!! Get on your feet already and duel like a man, and for the love of God show a little dignity; I can hear your sobs from across the room! So what if your ugly little girlfriend got cut down; she's not worthy of that kind of attention, and my guess is that even the grubs won't be able to look at her with a straight face! Trust me on this, I knew her for four horrible years, and she is not worth that kind of self-humiliation!"
Yet as the cruel sensei of his opponent lashed out mercilessly, Kaiba, perhaps out of hysteria or sheer good humor, cracked a rather chiding grin.
"You know, I've been studying you for a bit of time since the duel began, and I think I figured out something. That look, the remarks, the white Duel Gauntlet, it all clued in to something that should have been immediately obvious. You are the psychic Genkai, and although I had never seen you before I knew very much about your reputation as a telepath, and the reputation you hold as one of the world's greatest duelists. It only makes sense that Hiei would hire you to deal with his smaller enemies, but for some strange reason, whenever you have a truly powerful enemy, like me, you simply train some punk off the street."
"Believe me, Kaiba, Sango has more skills in the arena than you have seen so far, and it will not be long before Hiei is picking the sinew from your skull."
"I doubt that, but a question still comes to mind: why did you verbally assault Botan just now, and more importantly, why are you working for the one man who is going to destroy your last apprentice? I can't quite understand the second part, but I think you and I both know the answer to the first question. You're jealous of her."
"WHAT?!!"
"Don't try to hide anything from me, Genkai; I read people's faces, movements, and words for a living. And I can start to see why my theory is correct. She is easily prettier, stronger, smarter, and a much better duelist then you shall ever be, and that is why you hate her today. She reached a level of greatness that you could never possibly attain! And in the end, we both know who will emerge the winner in your little competition."
"It isn't enough for you to wear rose-colored glasses, is it, Kaiba? You want to see with rose-colored eyes! You obviously think way too much of that ancient whore, and something must have clouded your mind to make you spew out that garbage!"
"Believe whatever you want to believe, old hag. You and I both know the truth."
"Very well. Sango, I've had just enough about this piece of trash and his grating mannerisms, so now is the time to finish the job that Miroku started! END THIS DUEL NOW!!!"
"As you wish, Genkai. I'll start by placing one card face down, and then I'll summon D.D. Warrior Lady in attack mode." Sango's latest monster was a short young brunette in silver armor that appeared both ancient and contemporary, while in it's right hand she held a glowing short sword that slanted like a machete at the tip. (1500/1400) "Next, I'll deal with those enforcer tokens that your Roman hack called upon. D.D. Warrior Lady and Amazoness Paladin, remove those grunts from the field once and for all!" The Roman infantrymen struggled to hold off the swords of their new adversaries, but with a few short strokes the scutums were knocked away, and in a brutal flash the female soldiers had lopped off the heads of both of the servants of Caesar. (3000/2600) "That will end my turn."
"Don't insult my intelligence, Minamoto. You may have been able to remove my enforcers, but the true general is still on the field. And now that I have drawn, I will summon a personal favorite monster of mine, Vorse Raider!" Upon the field emerged the savage ax-wielder, fully ready to cut down the next thing that moved. (1900/1200)
"Next, I will place one card face down, and activate the Magic card, Watch Tranquilizer, which will allow me to reduce the total attack strength of any monster face up on the field by 100 times it's level. And in this case, my target is your D.D. Warrior Lady." Upon Kaiba's arm appeared a small digital watch, but this was a deceiving appearance, for soon enough the face converted into a targeting mechanism, while one of the set buttons became a thin, hypodermic dart. Thus equipped, he then searched around the place until his crosshairs locked onto the dimensional warrior, upon which he set a small tremor near the base of his wrist. This muscular spasm triggered the dart launcher, and soon the needle was sticking into the lady's unprotected throat, seeping it's poison into the bloodstream and bringing her to the ground. (1100/1400) "Now, Vatradan of the Order, destroy the D.D. Warrior Lady!" In a combination of rage and vengeance for his fallen comrades, Vatradan lunged forward, ready to rain all the fury of hell upon his newfound enemy, and it was in this blinded wrath of adrenaline that he smashed the dimensional drifter with the blunt end of his lance until she lay sprawled across the ground. But Vatradan was not done yet, for he brought the same lance crashing into her chest so that she could not strike back. Yet unbeknownst to the general, he had sealed his own demise, for as soon as the warrior was dead, a massive breach in reality crashed open, and the resulting vacuum sucked Vatradan into it's vortex.
"So the Roman Empire falls yet again. Perhaps if you had looked closer, Kaiba, you would have realized that the D.D. stands for Different Dimension, and perhaps you wouldn't have been taken by surprise the fact that when this monster is attacked it can remove itself and the monster that attacked it from play after the Battle Phase is over. But don't think I'll let my life points get damaged; my face down card, Curse of Pain, will handle that for me, and will cause you some hefty damage in kind." (1400/2600)
"Fine. But remember that I still have my Vorse Raider to do my bidding, so I will use it to destroy that Amazoness Paladin!" Although a little wary at first after what happened to Vatradan, the bloodthirsty killer leapt into the air, letting fly a sacrilegious yell as he sliced the swordswoman in half. (1400/2500) "And that will end my turn."
"If that is all you intend to do, then this duel is as good as mine. I'll start my next move by summoning the Amazoness Chain Woman in attack mode." Sango's latest monster seemed to be older due to the graying hair, unlike the others she had played so far, but still had the same basic build and clothing. The only truly notable point was the fact that unlike the other amazons her weapon of choice appeared to be a chained bola. (1500/1300) "I will then place 1 card face down, to end my turn."
"Please, do you honestly expect me to buy that piece of garbage? I've seen this trick before, in Battle City; you intend to lure me into attacking your chain master, which will then allow you to select any card from my deck and add it to your hand for the rest of the duel. Your friend Miroku tried that card-stealing tactic before to use my Obelisk the Tormentor, and judging from the fact that you haven't used Ultimate Offering in a while, I can safely guess you'll try the same illusion. It may have worked once before, but not this time! I'll disable your plan using the card I just drew, Dark Core, in order to discard one card from my hand and remove one monster on your side of the field from play, so your Amazoness Chain Woman will no longer be a nuisance to me." Once Kaiba had ditched one of the cards in his hand, the fourth amazon Sango had played was sucked up in a highly dense gravitational pull until she was torn apart. "Next, I will activate my face down card, Jar of Greed, to draw an extra card into my hand. Finally, for my greatest move, I shall sacrifice my Vorse Raider to summon the Airknight Parshath that I won from my last duel!" Soon enough, the murderous beast was consumed by a glowing orb of holy light, until it had been fully replaced by the skilled archangel. (1900/1400) "Now, Airknight Parshath, mount a direct attack on her life points!" Yet as the mighty seraph lifted his spear to cast judgment on the enemy, Sango decided it was time to cut her losses.
"Activate face down card, Shrink, whose effect I believe you know very well!" As she said this, the centaur-like divinity lost half of it's attack strength, and could only toss the smaller of the two lances into Sango, knocking her back a little but not as bad as it could have been. (1400/1650)
"Well, fortunately for me, I am still allowed to draw a card since Airknight caused you damage. So now I'll use that card, Graceful Charity, to draw three new cards and discard any two from my hand. And now, to end my turn, I shall activate Monster Reborn on one of those cards I sent to the graveyard, my Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
As the signature ankh of the monster resurrection emerged, Genkai and Sango alike began to grow frightened. Both of them knew the reputation of the legendary dragon of light whose sheer power alone would make many a duelist quake in fright. Both of them had seen what Kaiba could do with one Blue Eyes, and there were two others lying in wait, safely tucked into Kaiba's deck. And elsewhere in that same deck slept a blood hungry goliath, the God of Obelisk, and if that beast was summoned to the field they had no way of winning.
"SANGO! You say that you can defeat me, and you insist that I am meant to be with you, but I am afraid that neither of those claims can be true, for you are about to stare into the eyes of death itself! Come forth, my great wyrm, and let shine your awesome power!"
And standing in the monster card zone, snorting with barely contained disdain at the hovel to which it had been called, was the white-armored, blue eyed nightmare of every duelist on Earth, the creature that was both desired and feared by all that had seen it face to face.
The time of judgment had come, and the Blue Eyes White Dragon stood over the proceedings. (3000/2500)
New Paradigm Museum (Nightmare Sequence)
It had stood there, silent, motionless, a rather poorly made item from the naked eye's point of view. To anyone who had never learned the history of the tool that stood before them, they would just as quickly tossed it into the scrap metal pile for use as raw steel, never knowing the full strength that it could attain.
Totosai had called Tetsuaiga the weaker of his two swords that had been spawned from the teeth of Inuyasha's father, but for those that had felt the unbound fury of the Windscar, this was not true, not in the least. Still, the dog demon reached for it, the legendary blade that would make him a legend with it. The time was not right, the sword was never on a pedestal in which it had not been buried, and Inuyasha had not taken it by himself, but he reached for it anyway, because in the land of dreams, there is no reality but what the mind wills it to be.
His hand wrapped all the way around the rough, leather-bound hilt, cool to the touch by a lack of use. The edge was battered, the metal itself of horrible quality; if the thing got hit by a pebble it would shatter into a thousand pieces. But he knew that it had a hidden power, and he willed the power to come to him, and be one with his spirit. For a second nothing happened, and then the blade transformed, into a fang-like shape whose hilt was topped by dog fur.
But something was odd about the sword this time; it emitted a horrible aura, not unlike the aura that surrounded Naraku at all hours of the day, and the blade was oozing something. That something was pooling around his feet. The blade was darkening, and in it he could see the vaguest of images; a glowing jewel tainted with terrible acts of violence and brutality, a sadistic looking nobleman whose visage constantly warped and undulated, a depressed young woman who lay dead in a meadow, and worst of all, a pile of dead, hundreds of them, that represented the people he had wronged.
But one image was becoming clear amidst all others, and that was the image of a beaten Kagome, hardly older than 17, arms snapped, face bruised almost beyond recognition, and thousands of deep gashes that poured out her life force. Her mouth hung slack, her eyes staring straight forward, and Inuyasha knew she was dead.
He let out a scream, or at least he tried to. But his mouth, for whatever reason, was silent, and no matter what he did he could not avert his eyes from the reflection that now replaced all other mirages.
It was his own face that stared up at him from the black surface of the sword, or almost his own. The face looked different, borderline insane, eyes stained in the crimson of human blood, and the fangs more pronounced. He held no sword, but stood armed with only his natural weapons, the weapons of a murderer.
He was staring into the eyes of his demon half.
Inuyasha was unable to stand it any more, looking at the lunatic before him, and in outright disgust hurled the Tetsuaiga away from himself, but that did little, if anything, for his feelings of dread. He could now hear that sadistic bastard laughing like a maniac, surrounding him with his awful screech. He watched the corrupted blade fall, ever so slowly, until it smashed onto the ground and shattered into microscopic pieces. And as each individual piece landed, he soon realized that all of this time he had been standing in a puddle of human blood.
And his nightmares could silence him no longer.
"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"
(End Nightmare Sequence)
On the mortal plane, slitted yellow eyes burst open in response to the horrific visions that had passed beneath sealed lids. Sweat stood ever vigilant upon his brow, some renegade beads streaming downward, and his hands dug into the hard marble floor. But that was not his concern, for now at least, as he began to search for his two most valuable items, his deck and the Tetsuaiga. One part of the hunt was soon done with, for his deck was nestled safely in the Duel Gauntlet, none the worse for wear. But his infamous sword was not so close on hand, and it was with a degree of panic that he began to look for it. Although he had trained for some time to keep his demon half under control, it was highly unlikely that he could keep it out for more than an hour, and that was only if he used all of his will power to keep it in check. Therefore, the only guarantee of New Paradigm's safety was if he kept his hand on Tetsuaiga, or if the new moon arose within the next few minutes. But the blade was nowhere to be found, and already he felt like an army of insects was marching beneath his flesh. That last duel had worn him down considerably, and at this rate his dark side would overwhelm him in about ten minutes.
Where IS it? I know that the attack caused me to drop the sword, but I can't seem to remember where it went when that happened! It was that damn acid; it must've blinded me temporarily so I couldn't see it! I'd better work fast though, or it's curtains for everybody in this city...
Panic started to take over calm searching, and the half-blood demon started to show the earliest signs of demonic possession. Terrible thoughts started to pass through his head, ponderings of murder and conquest. He started to formulate a plan for Kagome's demise, and the Pharaoh Atem's as well. He started to consider locating Kaiba, Yusuke, Joey, and even that negotiator character, and he thought to kill all of them. His darkness could not rest, would not rest, until every living thing in the city was slain.But just as he was about to surrender himself to the shadows of his torn psyche, the sweet, ringing tune of salvation cut through, and it can almost be said that this selfsame grace landed right at his feet.
The blade now sat there, it's power absolutely veiled beneath it's shoddy exterior, and Inuyasha reached for it again. This time, however, the sword did not seem at all corrupted, yet warm, inviting, and pure regardless of the blood in which it had been soaked all this time.
Perfect. Now that the Tetsuaiga is back where it belongs, I think it's about time I get the hell outta here. But one things still confuses me: who handed me the sword in the first place?
It didn't really matter, he thought, and so decided to get out of that place once and for all. He still had a tournament to deal with, and some unfinished business to attend to. But he had a feeling it would be bugging him all night, as would what happened next.Perhaps in his state of perpetual alarm he had failed to notice that one half of his face, the one that had been hit by Yoko's attack, was covered in gauze. And at first it was a welcome gesture, considering how rather sensitive the seared flesh felt even from beneath the wrapping, but then another thought came into mind: could the same person that had tossed him the Tetsuaiga be the one who had bandaged his wounds as of now?
"Don't worry about it. I guess you could say I owe you one."
The new voice coming out from behind the alcove nearest to Inuyasha was rather attractive to him, very smooth and collected. And from that source emerged a lithe young brunette, with hair cut up to the neckline and eyes that were a shade or two lighter than Kaiba's. Her skin was slightly tanned from the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City events, but it was not so much that the tone was repulsive.
Inuyasha recognized her as Tea Gardener, that friend of Yugi's that Hiei had attempted to control and murder only a few days back.
"Hey, Gardener. What brings you here?"
"Call me Tea. And as for why I'm here, well, that's a little harder to explain than I can at this point. The bare bones of it was that I was looking for Yugi when I saw what happened after Yoko pulled that trick on you."
"So my guess is that you returned the Tetsuaiga to me. Well, I guess I owe you one there. But how did you learn how to treat acid burns like that?"
"Any more of that stuff on you and I don't think I could have. It was pretty serious throughout, but I had a few materials with me just in case of emergencies. After what happened with Hiei I figured that I couldn't be too ready to handle a problem."
The two sat down on a small hardwood bench that stood not too far from the Egyptian exhibit. Inuyasha, who had endured a large amount of difficulty, simply decided to relax for a few seconds while Tea searched through her purse until she found an annoyingly pink cellular phone, and started flipping through the News Download section until she found what she was looking for, made a note of it, and snapped it shut again.
"I notice you aren't too interested in calling anyone with that phone of yours."
"At this altitude I couldn't reach anyone anyway. I was just checking up on the situation in New Paradigm; there are rumors going around that some nutcase tried to assassinate Kaiba, but the hitman was found dead soon after. It's all starting to get a little freaky."
"You don't know freaky like I do, Tea. I've seen things that would make a machine quiver in it's boots. But I can't really stay for long; I've got some places to go to."
"Alright, it's been nice talking to you. But what kinds of things are you planning to do?"
"I've got to track down this "Atem" guy and make sure that he doesn't move in on Kagome. I'll see you later."
Tea was left with her thoughts for a second or so before the other shoe fell, and she ran to catch up with the demon, barely able to control her own anxiety.
"Something wrong, Tea?"
"Inuyasha, I can't let you hurt Atem. He's a friend of mine."
"WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU MENTION THAT EARLIER?! I COULD'VE DEALT WITH THAT PROBLEM IN A SECOND IF YOU'D GIVEN ME SOME IDEA THAT YOU KNEW HIM!!!"
"You don't get it. I do not want you touching him, and if he and Kagome do meet each other, I can only hope that you two can settle that part. But for now, I can't allow you to do anything. Besides, he'll kill you before you can come within two feet of him anyway." And with that, she stepped in front of the agitated demon.
"Get out of the way, Gardener."
"You know I won't."
"Look, Gardener, I've taken down warriors and demons that were about a hundred times more skilled than you, and although I'll give you credit for your bravery, I cannot allow you to stop me. So get out of my way."
"Go ahead and kill me, Inuyasha, I don't care anymore. If that is what you absolutely have to reduce yourself to, then so be it. But I'd rather die then see Atem get hurt, and if you actually used some of that animal mind of yours, maybe you'd think about how Kagome feels for once. Maybe she wants to be with him, and you are simply too much of a jackass to let her stay with him."
"DAMN IT, GARDENER, GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!" And with that he drew out his Tetsuaiga, which in turn transformed into it's fang mode while it's master stood in battle position.
"What are you waiting for, Inuyasha? Are you going to kill me or not? But before you do, take a good, long look at what you're doing. You are about to murder three innocent people, me, Atem, and Yugi, simply so that you can get Kagome back. But even if you do accomplish this she will see what you did, on your sword and on your hands, and she'll be completely disgusted. And you can't forget my other idea, how Kagome might actually be in love with him. So go ahead, kill me if you want, but think hard about it first."
It was the very first time in over a year that anyone had stood up to him like that. Nobody since Kagome had shown such bravery in the face of certain death, and like she said, Inuyasha thought about his plan for a second or so.
Until he sheathed the sword of his father, and collapsed onto the ground.
A little distance from the New Paradigm Hospital
The carcass had been swept up, the blood had almost been completely cleaned away, and what remained of Weevil's deck had been carted off by some punk duelist that had passed by a few minutes earlier. There was nothing that remained to be done here, at least by Joey. Yusuke had already headed off by now to do whatever he had come around for, so the only thing keeping Yugi's best friend around was his thoughts, mostly those about the brutal Sesshomaru.
Even from that small encounter, Joey could tell on the spot that there was something seriously wrong with Weevil's murderer, some unnoticed psychosis that drove him to commit such gruesome acts of violence. It wasn't the fact that Weevil had been killed; under different circumstances he would have done it himself. But Joey had seen something, a massive variable that Yusuke and Sesshomaru failed to notice: what he saw was a little boy who couldn't have been much older than 5 standing on the corner nearby, and any idiot could have figured out that he had seen the entire thing, maybe even have been close enough to get hit by some of the blood.
There is no doubt in my mind that Sesshomaru not only knew that the little kid was watching, he let the kid watch the slaughter on purpose. He must have had some kinds of problems as a kid to strike away young innocence in one flash, and I can only guess that he's after more fresh blood. Well, if he really thinks he can intimidate me with a little fancy light trick, he's got another thing coming. I'll take that bastard down myself, if I have to!
But the odds were that the second dog demon Joey had met was not going to confront him until the final rounds, and in order to do that, he would need to make headway in his tournament progress. The talk was that Yugi had already beaten 3 duelists already, and he was not about to drop out of the tournament. But the strange part was that there had hardly been any duelists hanging around this place, so the best thing to do was locate the hotbed of the dueling action, wherever that was.Alright, so Mai isn't in this tourney at all, Weevil and Rex have already been eliminated, Kaiba wouldn't duel me to begin with, and there's no way I'm taking on Hiei yet. I guess the only thing to do is find somebody that'll have a match.
But the whole place was silent, and thanks to Sesshomaru's grim sense of humor there wouldn't be a duel around here for a long time. So Joey decided to take a walk, to see who he couldn't find.But nobody he knew was around here; the closest he could find was a few people that Yusuke hung around with, but he didn't know their names or even if they could hold their own in Duel Monsters. But as he got farther along into the seedy underbelly of New Paradigm, whether or not he was going to find a duel became the least of his worries.
Now, on his own turf, Joey was easily the best street brawler there was, but this was something else altogether. The only weapon he carried was a jackknife he started to tote around after Hiei got thrown into the mix, and even the lowliest of the beggars were packing revolvers of some kind. Luckily for him the bums were not too easily agitated due to some lunatic that had caused trouble in some apartment complex on the other side of town. It could have been Hiei, but nobody had seen the event, since the news had only started to trickle in.
The smell of home-made liquors, hand-rolled cigarettes, and human vomit was becoming increasingly apparent, and somewhere in the distance Joey could hear a car alarm crying sadly to it's owner, dead or alive. Some two bit punks were spraying political slurs on the walls of a run down coffee shops, and cheap prostitutes were selling their wares to whomever was enough of a sleaze to take them. A pair of human legs jutted out of a dumpster on the other side of the street, and two little children who seemed to have not been fed or bathed in years started to gnaw on them.
Looks like there's trouble in Paradise.
It was really a horrible situation, and in this neighborhood there was likely to be some kind of bar. And Joey took note of the fact that some freaky-looking guy was slouching outside one of the less-sincere looking ones, nursing a shot of some hard alcohol. He was a tall man, but he looked like he'd gone slightly to seed over the past few years, seeing as his face was far from clean-shaven. Dressed in a sleeveless leather vest with matching pants and a bright blue mohawk with tassels sticking out of it, it looked like he had skipped a decade or two and was still living on grunge. After a few minutes he seemed to decide that he was finished with the drink and tossed the shot glass through the nearest window, which, unfortunately, happened to be the same bar he had gotten his liquor from. The bartender did not take this too well, and came out of the place screaming obscenities in some form of Russian. The drunk, in turn, staggered away into the street...and right in front of Joey."Well, well, well, if it ain't the second best at the Duelist Kingdom, Joey Wheeler." The man spoke in a heavy Austrailian accent, so he was obviously not a native around here.
"Who wants to know?"
"Well, I've heard you're a bud of one Yusuke Urameshi, the same I ran into a coupla times back, and I've also heard you're a none too bad duelist. Well let's see how you can handle a match wit me."
"Alright, so what are the stakes?"
"I've got two tourney keys, and I know you have only one. So I suggest we have a winner-take-all right 'ere in the street. If you win, you get all my keys and my two rarest cards, but if I win, I'll get your key and three of your rarest cards."
"Sounds fair enough. So who do I have the strange honor of facing in this match?"
"Call me Chu. Just about everyone else does." (4000/4000)
To Be Continued
Whew. That was my longest chapter yet. But it was worth it.
Ok, this is my last update before school, so it might take a while to get chapter 31 up. But when I do, Kaiba and Sango continue their duel, while Yami readies himself for the long awaited duel with Kachikachi, as he confronts Kikyo on what's going down. Joey finally begins his duel, Roger discovers a horrible secret, Inuyasha and Tea get a bit closer, and Hiei starts to succumb to his darkness again.
Until next time...READ, REVIEW, AND DON'T FLAME!!!